


Songs of Heart

by DraconicEngineer



Series: Bonded by Fate [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Azurrin Week 2016, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Family, Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation, Friendship, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 16:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7691536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DraconicEngineer/pseuds/DraconicEngineer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bit of Corrin's fighting spirit is damaged when one of his political decisions angers a large portion of his court. Azura helps heal the wound with memories and songs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Songs of Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5 of 7 and this was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Especially writing the opening and making the song work at the end. We'll see how that's received. Songs used are, in order, Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon”, Paramore’s “Still Into You”, and Shakira’s “Empire” with my modifications to the lyrics. 
> 
> Again, thank you for your support on all my work. As always, each and every review is appreciated be it praise or constructive criticism. Be sure to check out the official tumblr site at azurrinweek.tumblr.com for more cool stuff like this.

**_Day 5: Song_ **

**_Songs of Heart_ **

Corrin watched the assembly of nobles file out of the Vallite throne room, trying to discern the contents of their whispers. Today’s second court session had been the most turbulent of his time as king, as he had approved extra funding for infrastructure and agriculture in next year’s budget. To cover for the additional costs, he had to increase taxes as well and that drew a raucous uproar from nearly half the people in the room. The half-dragon then had to spend the rest of the session engaging his opposition in spirited debate and hours of it drained him of his energy. If he didn’t have any enemies in court before, he certainly had them now. There was a good chance that some of the Vallite people wouldn’t be happy either, but Corrin knew that results and progress were far more important than popularity.

“Corrin, are you ok? That was a pretty rough reception to say the least,” Silas commented. The Nohrian knight and king’s retainer stood on the right side of the throne, looking at the man on it sympathetically.

Corrin continued to stare straight forward and remained unmoving, his hands tightly gripping the edges of the armrests to release some of the pent-up tension.

“Yes, I’m alright. I knew what I had to do wouldn’t be the most popular thing, but I didn’t expect that much backlash.”

“Neither did I. I know you and Lady Azura spent days reviewing this decision so you did your best there. Guess you just can’t please them all huh?”

“Right,” the king responded, still not making eye contact with his retainer. Silence fell in the cavernous room as the conversation degraded. The frown on Corrin’s face did not seem like it would be disappearing any time soon.

“Well, if it’s any reassurance, your word is the law,” Silas offered mildly, trying to restore an atmosphere of optimism in the room.

“That much is true, but anything in politics can be contested if an opposing idea has enough support. The budget matters more than ever right now simply because Valla is trying to regain its footing in the world. If that many people aren’t on board with the vision I hold and how I plan to get there, how would I proceed? Kings lead and guide their people, Silas. They aren’t supposed to fight them. Sure, there will always be an argument against my policies, but there should never be one that divides a court of several hundred nobles cleanly into two.”

“I see,” the silver haired knight acknowledged, absorbing every word of the explanation.

After a couple of moments spent in reflection, Corrin rose to his feet from the throne and yawned before addressing his retainer.

“As much as this troubles me, I need to get my mind off of it so I can refresh myself and prepare for the days ahead. I really regret the fact that I have to say this, but it looks like this battle is just beginning.”

The king turned around and looked straight at Silas. “I won’t need you any further today, but I will need your assistance in the days to come.”

“Of course milord,” Silas affirmed as he nodded vigorously, “I’ll meet you here tomorrow morning at the usual time so we can chart a course for these choppy waters.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Corrin confirmed. Silas strode to his side and together, the two of them exited the throne room. Once the large stone doors had closed behind them, Silas bade him farewell and continued walking down the hallway to his quarters. Corrin turned to the left and made the short walk to the door to Azura’s office. After an afternoon like this, there was nobody he needed more than his fiancée. The half-dragon gently opened the door and scanned the room for his beloved, but she was nowhere to be found. A halfhearted sigh of dismay escaped his lips as he closed the door, but he wouldn’t give up on finding her just yet. There was one more place where he thought she could be: the castle’s music room on the second floor.

Tired steps down the corridor led the king to a tall spiral staircase that he began to climb as soon as he got there. Every step was covered in a soft, red carpet that silenced the sound of his footsteps and brought much needed comfort to his bare feet. Once at the top of the stairs, Corrin turned right and made his way over to a set of two wide, rectangular doors, each of which had a giant quarter note carved into them. He quickly flung the doors open and called out “Azura! Azura?”

Once again, the half dragon’s eyes swept over the room and found nothing but his piano and a shelf of sheet music on the wall. The dance floor on the right side of the room where she would normally be was empty. Another sigh escaped the king’s lips and though he wanted to continue his search, he thought better of it. If the songstress wasn’t in the places she frequented the most, who knows where she would be. Instead, Corrin made his way to the piano and sat down on the bench in front of it. Perhaps he could distract his mind with music.

His fingers ghosted over the keys of the piano as he decided on a song to play, swiping off the thin veneer of dust that had accumulated there. It didn’t take long before one came to his mind and he decided to sing as he played the chords of the song that was the backdrop of his first dance.

“ _Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars. Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars. In other words, hold my hand. In other words, darling, kiss me_.”

Corrin continued to play and a smile creeped onto his face as he heard Azura’s voice enter and sing the second verse without missing a beat. He couldn’t see here and didn’t know when she had gotten there, but at this point he really didn’t care. She was with him and that’s all that mattered.

“ _Fill my heart with song and let me sing for ever more. You are all I long for, worship and adore. In other words, please be true. In other words, I love you_.”

Once she had finished, Corrin played an impromptu ending and rose from the bench to greet her. However, she managed to beat him to the punch.

“Corrin, I heard what happened earlier this afternoon. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t find you sooner to discuss everything. I was called out of my office to deal with an urgent message from Ryoma right before court ended. As soon as I finished with that, I came looking for you. Luckily, the sound of your music carried through the castle, so you were easy to find.”

“It’s alright. In fact, I’d rather not talk about this afternoon at all. It’s already tired me out enough and at this point I’m just looking to refresh my mind. Playing the piano helps with that.”

“I’m glad that it does. You always have been magnificent whenever you play,” Azura said, looking to help him replace stress and fatigue with positivity. “Corrin, do you remember when I first sang that to you?” she followed up.

“How could I forget? It was the song we first danced to out in the forest in the astral plane. I clearly remember how I thought the lyrics were instructions and made myself look like a total fool,” he answered.

Azura laughed heartily as she recalled the same memory. “I still maintain the stance that I could have chosen a better song, but in hindsight it wasn’t _that_ bad of a choice considering the circumstances.”

“You do have a knack of picking out songs for the right moment. Like that one you sang to me after we had our first big argument. I remember the lyrics so clearly too,” Corrin replied before breaking into song. 

“ _I should be over all the butterflies, but I’m into you, I’m into you_.”

Azura took the initiative to sing along with him. “ _And baby even on the worst nights, I’m into you, I’m into you_.”

The two then combined their voices and sung the remaining part of the refrain in unison. 

“ _Let ‘em wonder how we got this far, because I don’t really need to wonder at all. Yeah, after all this time I’m still into you_.”

Once that spontaneous singing session ended, the both of them looked at each other and laughed.

“You know Corrin, your singing voice has improved quite a bit,” the songstress told her fiancé. 

“And your voice is still angelic as always dear,” he complimented, his mood significantly improved from before. The trials of court and politics were now firmly at the back of his mind, and the stress they brought with them was rapidly being erased.

Azura noticed this and pulled the half-dragon into a hug. Corrin eagerly returned the gesture, being sure to hold her close and soak in every bit of her warmth. This was why he needed her. Her serene aura and unending caring brought ease to his mind and heart and replenished the energy he had lost earlier in the day.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two of them broke apart and faced each other, eyes shining with happiness.

“Corrin, dear, could you go and get that sheet music on the top shelf and play it for me? I think it’s time that I gave that performance you requested a couple of mornings ago.” the songstress asked, wanting to capitalize on the good mood.

“Of course” he responded, eager to be introduced to a new song. As he walked to the shelf and grabbed the sheet music, Azura made her way over to the dance floor and stood at the center. Corrin returned to the piano and sat down, placing the pages in front of him. Once he was comfortable, he looked over his instrument to the Vallite princess, who gave him a thumbs up and a smile. Taking that as his signal to begin, Corrin softly played the first few chords. Shortly afterwards, Azura closed her eyes and started to sing in a tone that matched.

“ _Show me your heart within, I’m brave when you’re free. Shake off all of your sins and give them to me. Come close, please let me in. I wanna be yours, wanna be your hero. And our hearts beat_.”

Corrin could feel the power and emotion vested in those lyrics and they reminded him of something that he and Azura often repeated. They had always said that they were stronger together and these lyrics seemed to make that point. He played on, listening to refrain that Azura sang next.

“ _Like the empires of the world unite. We are alive. We walk this challenging road together. You’re my wildfire every single night, we are alive! We walk this challenging road together. And you hold me…and I’m in…and I’m in… and I’m in love_!”

The half dragon was surprised by the sudden crescendo and emphasis on the word love, but upon further thinking he realized why it made sense. The chorus reinforced the idea that this intense feeling of love came from prevailing over obstacles together, a concept not new to either of them.

The volume of Azura’s voice was noticeably quieter for the second verse.

“ _I will follow you down wherever you go. I am, baby, I’m bound to you don’t you know? Closer, pull me in tight, you wanna be mine, you wanna be my hero. And our hearts beat_.”

This time, Corrin sung along during the chorus, as both piano notes and vocals entered another crescendo.

“ _Like the empires of the world unite. We are alive. We walk this challenging road together. You’re my wildfire every single night, we are alive! We walk this challenging road together. And you hold me…and I’m in…and I’m in… and I’m in love_!”

Azura’s third verse maintained the same volume as the refrain and was the most passionate of them all, transitioning perfectly into the third and final repetition of the refrain.

“ _I’m just gonna take your hand, we will make our final stand, we will persevere! I’m gonna give you all my love and stand by you_ …”

“ _Like the empires of the world unite. We are alive. We walk this challenging road together. You’re my wildfire every single night, we are alive! We walk this challenging road together. And you hold me…and I’m in…and I’m in…and I’m in love_!”

The songstress’s words finished, leaving Corrin to close out the piece with a series of notes that created a soft, smooth ending, giving closure to the piece.

Azura looked over at the half-dragon as soon as he finished and asked for his opinion. “Did you enjoy that Corrin?”

“That was amazing as always dear. Again, you picked the perfect song for right now. That had just the message I needed.”

“I figured it would help a little bit,” she stated, “After all, you’re not taking on this budget challenge alone. I’ve got your back.”

“I’m eternally grateful for that. Truly, I am. I could ask for nobody better to be my hero.”

“Likewise. You’re my hero Corrin and no matter what, that will never change.”

Corrin smiled in appreciation before standing up from the piano bench. Once upright, he walked over to the dance floor.

“You know, for some reason the piano was pretty cold today,” he said, seemingly at random.

Azura raised an eyebrow, confused by his words. Nonetheless, she still responded as best she could. “Well why don’t we get you warmed up then?”

Corrin restrained a laugh, pleased that she had taken the bait. “Well, I was hoping that my wildfire could do that for me.”

The songstress rolled her eyes. “I should have seen something silly like that coming,” she said, “but, I’ll indulge your request anyway.” The following kiss was one that both of them would fondly recall for many years to come.


End file.
